


Not what you make me

by Fwsw



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Star Trek, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: AU, Bending (Avatar)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-18 12:51:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17581199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fwsw/pseuds/Fwsw
Summary: Jim Kirk is not a fire bender, Bones is not a water bender, Spock is not an earth bender.





	1. Chapter 1

George Kirk saved the lives of his crew. The lives of his wife and son. He was not a strong firebender but he had will of one, his passion and strength was clear for anyone to see, and because of it James Tiberious Kirk was born into flames. 

\---

Jim was smart, and he was bored by the childs work his kindergarten teacher had him doing, so he made his own work. He used the crayons to build a tower, using what Sam had taught him about centre of mass and balance to make it almost as tall as himself, if that made him a 'troublemaker' like his teacher said, well at least it wasn't boring. Heck even time out was better than doing that baby work, at least he could count the ceiling tiles, or make up stories, or if he was really sneaky he could grab some paper off that desk and make a plane! He stretched up, his tiny fingers nearly brushing the sheets.

Nobody was hurt, but the flames consumed the whole table before an airbender from the next class over sucked the oxygen away and extinguished the flames.

"It wasn't my fault" Jim whimpered, tears staining his face as he was dragged to the principals office until his mom could collect him. He hadn't meant to be bad, it wasn't his fault, and he must have been bad because they were talking about the police and expulsion and what are we going to do with him?

Winona was not happy. It was bad enough that she'd been called away from work, but they wouldn't even tell her what Jim had done this time. She was even less happy when she walked into the office to see her baby boy sat on a chair in the corner, eyes red and puffy, looking so very lost as he mumbled over and over "It wasn't my fault". They showed her the desk. The principals glass of water started to shake as her anger grew.

"And you're blaming Jimmy? How on earth was he supposed to do it? Do you make a habit of letting children get hold of matches or lighters or whatever you think he used?" The water rose into the air, twisting and turning and bubbling with the hidden fury in her words.

"He clearly used his bending!" The principal exclaimed, the kindergarten teacher nodding along. The water splashed down onto the desk raining across the PADDS that covered the desk.

"How incompetent are you? If you read his files you'll see it couldn't have been him, actually don't. He won't be returning to your school." Winona picked up her baby and stormed out of the school whilst stroking his hair and reassuring him he'd done nothing wrong.

Because James Tiberius Kirk may have been born into flames but Jim was no firebender.


	2. Chapter 2

Winona Kirk was one of the strongest water benders in Starfleet, water bent and twisted to her emotions. Nobody dared face her wrath. When James was born she held him in her arms as she watched her husband die. It rained on the ship as she screamed, the drops rolling down James' bare skin.

James Tiberius Kirk was born to the storm.

\---

Jim was slim, but strong. He moved through the water like an otter, the other kids thought he was born to swim the way he twisted and turned. It made him happy, it was the only time he was seen as his mother's child instead of a hero's son. It was the only time he felt free of the shadow he had been born into.

Sam refused to join him, watching from the shore. He had their mothers strength and their fathers skill, his flames too volatile to be left unchecked were controlled by a damper. It was waterproof, they'd made sure of that but he was still scared to submerge it, it had taken three weeks before Winona had been able to drag him into the bath after it was installed. So he watched Jim swim and took pleasure in the joy that was clear on his face.

The other kids were splashing in the shallows, close enough that Sam could hear when they decided on a race. "Hey, why don't you get Jim too, he'd love it." They looked at each other whispering between them before shrugging and calling to Jim.

"Okay the rules are we start here" Abigail pointed to where they were stood. "And when Sam says so we swim to the other side of the lake then back. NO bending! If you do you're disqualified." All the kids nodded and agreed, but Sam frowned. A lot of the kids seemed to be looking at Jim when they'd talked about bending. If they thought his little brother was a cheat they'd have him to deal with, Jim was as honest as they came, normally too honest for his own good.

"3, 2, 1, Go!" Sam yelled. All six of the kids splashed into the water, Jim took an early lead but Abigail wasn't far behind and Kai was almost on top of her. All of the kids were strong swimmers so he stopped watching once they were halfway, he'd notice when they were nearly back to give the rankings, though it was clear who'd win.

There were far too many unhappy faces stood on the podium than Sam had made out of a few large rocks he'd dragged down to the shore. Ai'lish was pouting on 3rd place, Kai looked fuming on 2nd and Jim was twitching as he looked around at the angry faces surrounding him. It didn't take long before Kai lashed out and shoved Jim off the winners podium.

"You cheated! We said no bending but you did it anyway!" The others nodded and grumbled with him, Jim looked horrified and tears filled his eyes. Sam growled, the air around him heating up drawing focus of the kids.

"My brother is NOT a cheater." The damper clicked and a spark jumped across it as flames flickered across his finger tips. "You're just mad cos he's so much better than you!"

They ran, leaving the Kirk brothers alone at the lake. Sam took a deep breath and stopped the flames, before offering Jim his hand and walking him home. Winona didn't say anything when he handed the broken damper over and miserable Jim walked straight to his room. They never went back to swim.

James Tiberius Kirk may have been born to the storm but he'd never control it, because Jim was no waterbender.


	3. Chapter 3

Vulcans are strong. They are rigid, and unmoveable. They are earthbenders, each and everyone of them. They raise their homes from the ground, they build shelter from the burning sun of Vulcan without blistering their sensitive hands. S'chn T'gai Spock was born under the earth.

\---

"No Vulcan has ever declined admission to this academy."

"Then, as I am half Human, your record remains untarnished" That is what Spock says, but it is not what he wants to say. What he wants to say is 'do not treat me like a fool, we all know I am no Vulcan'. What he wants to say is 'No matter how hard I pretend I will never belong'. What he finally realises is 'you cannot teach me what I must learn'. 

His father is angry, he wouldn't admit it, nobody could see it but Spock feels the emotions rolling off his father. It is understandable after all he has disrespected the culture his father was born to and raised him in. His mother says he will calm down, that he'll understand, but they both know that is an empty lie. Not even she could ever fully understand, yes she knows what it is like to stand on the edge of the Vulcan community, what it is to look on but not belong. But she could never know what it is like to look in the mirror and see reflected back a lie. His reflection showed a Vulcan and he had known since he was 8 years of age that was something he would never be. 

The other children were not kind, but they were not cruel. They would play with him if he joined, but it was rare that he would be invited to others homes as the other children were. He was a slow developer, a result of his human genetics. Whilst the others would practice raising pebbles in the air, he could not even make the dust tremor. Some children developed later than others, it wasn't uncommon for some to take until 6 years before they showed a level of ability. It was almost unheard of to be unable to bend at 8 but not unthinkable.

Lessons had advanced at school. They were no longer just practicing forms and stances, now they were to spar. Spock too. Some of the kinder children protested that it was illogical to allow someone unable to bend to spar, all it could achieve was injury and humiliation. Spock merely stood with his head bent, trying to hid the pale green flush of embarrassment that coloured his cheeks at his ineptitude. He could not be saved from his fate though, the teacher argued that an intense situation may unlock his bending, and his father had agreed to his participation.

At the first stone that flew for his stomach Spock twisted out of the way, this earned him an admonishment from the teacher. "Vulcans stand firm. Do not avoid your fate." The second flew over his shoulder, his partner showing some kindness. But again the teacher disapproved. He took over as Spocks partner himself. "You shall not learn to bend if you do not learn to embody the philosophy of Vulcan. You must stand as the earth. You must be unmovable, unemotional and unbreakable." The third stone flew towards his face and he raised his arms on instinct. The stone stopped inches from his nose. He was bending.

Spock closed his eyes and fell into what felt like a meditative state, he followed his instincts and slowly paced in a circle and his arms orbited the stone. Cool breeze brushed against his skin and he felt at peace. That was not to last though. His eyes opened to a room full of Vulcan children staring at him in shock, some had their mouths open, even the teacher's eyes had widened marginally. He froze and the stone fell to the ground. He was bending, but not as he should have been. He ran all the way home and sobbed into I-Chaya's fur where nobody could see him.

Because S'chn T'gai Spock may have been born under the earth but Spock was no earthbender.


	4. Chapter 4

David McCoy was a simple Georgia farmer, a dying breed but it was who he was. It left him tired, bruised and scraped at the end of the day, he didn't mind but his little Len did. From when he was old enough to walk the boy met him at the door with a bucket, damp cloth and a box full of ointments. There was nobody who knew him that didn't know that Leonard Horatio McCoy was born to heal.

\---

It was a known fact that Leonard was stubborn, and that is how he got into medical school. And that's why he was auditing classes that weren't relevant to his course, even though everyone in the class knew he didn't belong there, not one of them dared say a thing. Every fibre of his being screamed 'I'm here to learn', this was only emphasised by the scratched note he jotted on his PADD every so often. He drew diagrams, he learned the old methods, he took in every piece of knowledge that he could find. Then he went home.

He build a small practice in Georgia, in a larger town than he was born in but not too far that he couldn't visit his father once a week to heal his latest injuries. David was getting too old to be working the land but Len's stubbornness didn't come from nowhere. He built a family. He watched as his sweet Jo was born, and he felt his heart swell as he held her for the first time. The he watched as it all fell apart. His father died. His wife left. Joanna cried as he boarded the shuttle to Starfleet.

There was nothing for him to stay for. His family was gone, all he had was Jo and her mother refused to let him see her more than once a month. It wasn't his fault she'd assumed things about him that weren't true. It wasn't his fault his father had slipped away in his sleep and he wasn't there. It wasn't his fault that there were wound he couldn't heal. That didn't stop the voice in his head that told him it was.

'Bones' was a dumb nickname. He'd told Jim as much. He'd asked him to stop, but the brat refused. Maybe he wanted to see how much he could annoy Leonard before he snapped? Or maybe he could tell that though is was a dumb nickname, 'Bones' felt like a fresh start.

They were stuck on the surface for at least another 10 minutes before the ship could beam them up, but the red shirt didn't have that long. "Why's it always the red shirts?" Bones grumbled, he didn't have his med kit, that had been swiped by the same beast that had near split this boy in half. "Move out the way" he snapped at the girl leaning over him, tears streaming down her face.

"Why?" She sobbed. "You can't do anything, you don't have a med kit and everyone knows you're not a bender!" Bones scoffed and gently pushed her out the way. Scuttlebutt was equal parts annoying and useful. It helped him know problems the fresh meat were too embarrassed to share, but it also spread lies that made his job so much harder. He held his hands above the boys wounds, closed his eyes and drew a deep breath centering himself. Then he let the heat burst forth. There were no flames but the heat was enough to cauterize the flesh. The bleeding slowed and finally stopped. He hadn't saved the boys life, but it might have bought him enough time. The girl stared at him in amazement, her golden irises wide.

Because Leonard Horatio McCoy may have been born to heal but Len was no waterbender.


	5. Chapter 5

Jim is not a firebender or a waterbender or an earthbender or an airbender and that seems to be awfully hard for the world to grasp. That a non-bender could be born from two of the most famous firebenders on earth, with a brother with extreme powers. But he still saves the world, more than once he might add. 

Spock is not an earthbender, but he is Vulcan. It takes him a while to believe that, but being different doesn't make him lesser, and it doesn't make him less than he is. A Vulcan. He knows the basics instinctively, and learns the rest at Starfleet. He starts as one of the weaker benders, held back by years on a planet that didn't know what to make of him, but he ends as the strongest.

Bones is not a waterbender, but that doesn't stop him using his bending to heal. He learnt to control it young, fire and crops don't mix. He studied waterbending to make use of his skills, he learnt to read the pathways in a body through their heat, he learnt to cautaurize wouldn't and to sterilise equipment. He learnt about reading spirits, an ancient technique no longer taught, but it allows him to read alien species. He doesn't need to know anatomy to heal, it makes him the best xenomedic in star fleet.

The world is always going to see them how it wants to.

But they see each other and they learn from each other. It's like Jim tells the press every time they accuse him of hiding his bending (a few even suggest he's the long hidden Avatar):

"It doesn't matter what you say. It doesn't matter what you think. You do not define me or my crew. I am not what you make me. I am me."


End file.
